A Note From the President

While I was working on a film last week, I was eating at Jims, a little restaurant in the 9th Ward, and in walks a friend that I haven’t seen in years — Tony. Tony is also a SAG-AFTRA member, and pretty soon after we started catching up, he says (and I’m toning this down a bit), “Well, I got the recent eblast from SAG-AFTRA and it had your name on it as president. How did you get to be president?” When he asked this question, it made me wonder how many other SAG-AFTRA members don’t have this information. 

So, I explained that when AFTRA and SAG merged, existing boards of each union around the country merged in each local. I was president of the New Orleans AFTRA Local. SAG’s Florida Branch had a council member-at-large representing Louisiana/Mississippi, and we became one. “And that’s how I became the SAG-AFTRA president of the New Orleans Local,” I explained. “OK,” he says. “Just so I know.”

Tony brought to my attention a challenge I’ve faced as a board member since our one union was formed: how to reach out to our members? With privacy laws, board members can’t easily view a list of members — and certainly not contact information — so you need to give us permission to contact you directly (which may be difficult if you don’t know who we are). So go to SAGAFTRA.org, click on Locals, then New Orleans and send me an email at neworleans@sagaftra.org. Be sure and indicate the email is for me and it will be forwarded.

We all know that with the amount of production that’s here, this local is surely an emerging market and, to that end, I’ve met with presidents from other small and medium locals this year on the Committee of Locals, working out challenges we each face in this new world. In addition, your local board has designed a New Orleans Local Constitution and it includes some important changes, one being the requirement of your board to include a member from Mississippi, so please submit a petition if you’re interested.

We’re scheduling a SAG-AFTRA performance night in August where members will sign up and put on a show, and we are considering forming a new committee for stunt performers (so again, let us know if you’re interested). Herta Suarez, whom many of you know, has just completed negotiating a new contract for broadcasters at WWL-TV and parts of the agreement will be used as a template to negotiate station contracts all over the country. Linda Dowell, the assistant national executive director for locals, has spoken with IATSE representatives and we’re discussing how to support the Louisiana Film & Entertainment Association’s efforts to sustain the tax incentives in Louisiana.

That’s just the beginning. As important as any other ingredient needed to make this new gumbo worthy of our name is you. We’re too large in number now to do it without you. So expect to hear from us and, if your email has changed, contact us at neworleans@sagaftra.org or call Linda Dowell at (214) 363-8300 ext. 1 and let us know. Most communication to you will be via email (including occasional casting notices) so make sure we always have your current complete contact information. It’s been a long road home and we’re not there yet, so please take some time to consider how you can participate on this journey. We need you to, as a sister president from another local said, “Shepherd this new entity.” Looking forward to hearing from you. 

In solidarity,

Diana Boylston, New Orleans Local President

This item was originally featured in the Spring 2013 local newsletter.